Sometimes you find a book that just reaches right into your soul and grabs a hold of you in a most wonderful way. This week I read a book that did just that for me, this book is titled The Definition Of Normal and was written by E.S. Carpenter.
Shaun's rating:
Allow me to touch on three things very quickly here and then we will get to the meat of my review.
First off you are probably wondering why, if this book touched me so deeply, am I only giving it four paddles rather than five? Please just bear with me a bit and I'll get to that.
Second, even if you don't feel like reading any more of this review please click on the link above; buy a copy of this book and read it.
Third... This book is not erotica. I know I usually review erotica here, and this book does have a few erotic scenes (which are very well done by the way), mostly though this is a love story and a story that conveys a wonderful and thoughtful message.
I'll try not to divulge too much below, but beware there may be some spoilers.
The Definition Of Normal tells the story of two boys, Jacob and Steven, who grow up together as best friends from the age of five. Jacob outwardly appears to meet the societal definition of normal but Steven does not and he struggles with this. The story tells of Steven's struggle and of Jacob's support and love for him through this struggle. Steven struggles with gender issues and eventually is able to become Stephie, her true self. At the same time Jacob is not as 'normal' as he might appear, he is in fact in love with Steven/Stephie. Steven/Stephie is in love with Jacob as well.
We are brought along on Stephie and Jacob's journey as their love and understanding of themselves and each other grow. We also see how they face the challenges of sharing these parts of themselves with family and with facing a culture that is not always accepting.
The author does a wonderful job of leading us along this path and giving food for thought regarding just what normal really is. What is gender, and why has society decided that there are only two? Do the body parts we are born with really define our gender? What about those who are born intersexed?
The author also challenges us to think about why something that might be outside our own definition of 'normal' is therefore wrong? Why is it wrong to express the way we feel inside through the way we dress just because society says males shouldn't wear dresses or females should be all femininity? Why is it wrong to love someone of the same sex? Why is what is between someones legs more important than what is in their heart?
The roles that society, and religion have played in determining what is normal are also brought into this story in a very thought provoking way.
As I said above this story really touched me. I could relate so closely to the characters, especially Stephie, I found myself totally involved in the journey that she was experiencing. I felt her emotions, I was brought to tears, both of sadness and of joy, for her.
Now for a bit of critique and the reasons why I am giving this book four rather than five paddles...
The authors writing style, especially when writing dialog, seemed a bit contrived and stilted at times. I realize that the author was trying to convey a message, a very important and powerful message, but some of the dialog just didn't ring true; I mean I just have a hard time imagining anyone speaking quite the way the characters spoke at times.
There was some angst and conflict in the story, but in a way the story was a bit too idealistic. I suppose that the acceptance that Jake and Stephie were shown by their families is not completely beyond imagination, but I felt it was a bit far fetched. It would be wonderful if all families were so accepting, but that's not the way the world seems to be in reality. I loved these families for being so welcoming as Jake and Stephie went through these changes but I also kind of felt like the story might have been even better if we had seen a bit more of the struggle that many of us go through in accepting what is outside of our definition of 'normal.' One of the parents did have a bit of a struggle accepting everything, but I thought that could have been explored more in depth.
Editing was not perfect in this book, but it was not a deal breaker by any means. The book is very readable.
I wish that everyone would read this book, but I especially hope that anyone who has every felt that they might be a different gender than that they were assigned at birth, or who might feel like they fall somewhere rather than at the very ends of the gender spectrum, or who in anyway feel that they sometimes are not quite what society deems 'normal, will pick up a copy. I think that this book will touch those people especially.
This book has a powerful message and provokes thinking about issues which we should all give serious consideration.
I'm giving this book four out of five paddles, I highly recommend it.
Well I missed getting a review in last week but I'm back at it this week with a review of Make Him Your Sissy: 30 Rules For Getting Everything You Want by Mia Fire.
Shaun's rating:
I'm really not sure where to begin with this short book. Interestingly it is listed on Amazon in both fiction and non-fiction categories. I suppose my main problem is it's non-fiction listing; that is ridiculous and obviously just a marketing ploy by the Author. If we were to take this book seriously and look at it as actually being a guide for making him your sissy then this book would not even deserve the one paddle I am giving it.
The book is simply a list of thirty rules that will supposedly turn a man into a sissy. Rules such as; controlling his orgasms, placing him in chastity, taking financial control from him. Yeah, okay, as fantasy that's fine but in reality if a woman tried this with most any man he'd be out the door and gone in seconds.
First there is no mention in this book of the man's desire or consent to be turned into a sissy. The rules do suggest and promote non-consent, coercion, and blackmail.
This book is simply a piece of fantasy fluff, and not particularly good fluff at that. It's silly and ridiculous and not even hot if just looked at as a piece of erotica.
The editing is okay, there are some mistakes but it's readable.
Thankfully I picked up this book from Amazon when it was being offered for free, I certainly would not pay for it. I am giving Make Him Your Sissy one paddle out of five. Your time can be better spent.
I read Pool Shark And Other Femdom Stories by M.V, Gaius this past week.
Shaun's rating:
This book contains several short stories; all have elements of femdom with a strong leaning toward foot fetish, tickling, chastity, tease, and denial. The stories are well written, most contain a bit of humor or silliness, and some I found at least somewhat hot.
In all honesty the authors style just doesn't do much for me. I just found it all a little too silly, and there was too much focus on the foot fetish and tickling stuff, neither of which are particularly titillating to me.
The editing in the book is okay. There were more problems than I like, but it was certainly readable.
I'm just not passionate one way or another regarding this book. It didn't do much for me, but I do think it's pretty well written and if you have a greater interest in the above fetishes than I, it may be something you would enjoy very much. I'm giving Pool Shark And Other Femdom Stories three paddles.
I'll be giving you my thoughts on Mastering Her Man by Margeaux Adler this week.
Shaun's rating:
This is a short story, twenty five pages according to Amazon, that introduces us to Jenna and Brandon. Jenna and Brandon seem to have lost the spark in their relationship, then one night a frustrated Jenna takes a peek at Brandon's laptop and discovers pegging and femdom porn in his browsing history. Jenna finds it turns her on, and thinks she sees a way to reignite that spark between her and Brandon. Yes, it's a bit cliche, but it's also very well done by the author.
I had read this story the first time a year ago or so, but enjoyed it enough to read it again so that I could give you my thoughts on it here. I very much enjoyed it again with this second reading. It's a very well written story, the characters are quite likable and easy to identify with. The author does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the story with great descriptions of the scenes and action.
If you're into light femdom and pegging I think you'll find this book very enjoyable. The action is hot. The femdom is rather mild, but it should be as this is our couple's first step into this type of play. The mildness does not take away from the eroticism in my opinion.
The editing in this book is very good, it is very easy to read with nothing that caused me even the slightest pause.
I definitely recommend Mastering Her Man, I'm giving it four and one half paddles. Also, this story is offered for free on Amazon, as a freebie it's outstanding. I'd like to say that I'm rushing right into the next book in the series, I would very much like to read it, but to be honest I probably won't. The next book is only twenty five pages as well, but the kindle price is $2.99. I'm cheap, I admit it, I have a hard time paying that much for such a short story. For those of you who are not cheap bastards like me, this might be a very good series to take a look at.
I'm afraid life got in the way last week, I was too busy and wasn't able to post a review here, but this week I'm back at it with my thoughts on Calendar Girl by Kylie Gable.
Shaun's rating:
Calendar Girl is a fun frolic into the world of forced feminization. The girls of the Delta Theta sorority have for years been producing a calendar, which features one girl each year, to raise funds for charity. The catch, that not many people know about, is that the calendar girls are not really girls. This year their calendar girl (or calendar victim) is Brandon. Jennifer is the new pledge who seductively ensnares Brandon, and the girls begin his transformation into Brandi.
Kylie Gable manages to tell her story in a way that is fun and not too mean. Okay it's a little mean, but it is forced feminization after all. The characters are all likable and fairly well developed for such a short story. The story flows nicely and kept me engaged the entire time. This is not a story of extreme or graphic eroticism, it's rather mild, kind of a good 'dip your toes in the water' story.
There are a few editing glitches, wrong or misspelled words that kind of thing, but not so many as to pull the reader out of the story.
I recommend this book for those who are forced fem fans, especially since it's offered free on Amazon. I did get it from Amazon for free myself, and after reading it I'm sure I'll read more books by Kylie Gable in the future. I'm giving Calendar Girl a three and one half paddle rating.
I was very excited this week to have the opportunity to read and give you my thoughts on Dancing Backward by Thomas Lavalle.
Shaun's rating:
I'd been seeing this book pop up on my Amazon feed over and over. It had ten ratings, most of which were four or five stars, which is quite good for a book in the femdom erotica genre; so I was really looking forward to reading it. I had been holding off on purchasing it though, since I already had a pretty good back-log of reading material. However, I saw on Twitter this past week that there was a promotion on the book. It was available for just $0.99, so I jumped on it and added it to my Kindle.
It was a couple of days before I actually had a chance to open this book up and begin reading; I was practically rubbing my hands (and thinking about rubbing some other parts) in anticipation.
Things started out pretty good. Chris (the male protagonist) and Kelley (the female) meet at a ballroom dance class while they are in college. She takes the lead while they are dancing, and eventually explains to him that she wants to take the lead in life with her man. This appeals to Chris and they get together and eventually marry. The story jumps to a couple years later when Chris is a househusband (and a slacker), Kelley is getting tired of his slacking off and decides some changes are needed. As things move forward she begins to push Chris into deeper submission.
All that sounds pretty good, right? It is a bit formulaic I grant, there's even Kelly seeing some other woman dominating a man, and the friend (who it turns out happens to be experienced in the femdom lifestyle) that tells her how to increase the depth of Chris' submission, all things that you see often in femdom erotica; but they work, that's why you see them so often.
My problem with this book is that I soon came to just absolutely despise the characters. Chris is a weak willed, slacking, milquetoast with low self-esteem. Kelly, who is described in the blurb for the book on Amazon as "spoiled and born bossy," is also a narcissistic, mean spirited, bitch. Characters such as these just turn me off. I like dominant women who actually like the men who serve them. I also like submissive men who take pride in their service and themselves. Kelley had "contempt" for Chris, she viewed him with "disdain". She was also a shrill nasty piece of work. Chris was just pathetic.
Mr Lavalle writes a decent story, his ability for setting the scene and drawing the reader in is impressive. However, aside from characters that I didn't care for, the female supremacy tone of this story kind of turned me off. I get that for many readers the female supremacy fantasy is a big turn-on, and I'm sure those readers will enjoy this book. I find female supremacy every bit as ridiculous (and distasteful) as male supremacy, or white supremacy and just really didn't care for that theme in this book.
So, the writing is good, the editing is good. If you are into dominant women who have no regard for, even despise, the men who serve them and sub men who are pathetic grovelling worms; and if you enjoy a female supremacist tone in stories, hurry to Amazon and grab this book right away. If those particular things don't float your boat, I'd recommend avoiding this book. I'm giving Dancing Backward two and one half paddles.
This week I'll be giving you my thoughts on The Blue Rose Court Part 2 by A.D. Wund. You can see my review of The Blue Rose Court Part 1 here.
Shaun's rating:
This continues the story, from The Blue Rose Court Part 1, of the four ladies of Blue Rose Court and their journey into female domination.
It is not a stand alone book, you will be lost if you haven't read Part 1. In a way I was glad that it took right off from where Part 1 ended, as I didn't want to have to go through all the detail of being introduced to the characters again; after all, that had taken up nearly half of the first book. At least the descriptions of the cars the characters drove were less elaborate in this piece than in Part 1; I was grateful for that. However, it would have been nice if the Author had, in a very condensed way, re-introduced the characters and story so that it would be a stand alone piece. That is just my personal preference though and I respect the authors choice to just continue from where Part 1 left off.
The story is really pretty good, there are all the elements a good story needs, however the Author's style just exhausts me. It is so wordy and repetitive that I found it very hard to read. The Author uses full titles for characters throughout the book; for example hot-wife Emily, or guy-sub Andrew. This is totally unnecessary, we've already been introduced to these characters, I know Andrew is a male and that he is in a submissive role; I don't need to see that every-time he is referred to in order to remember.
Some may find the erotic scenes in this book hot; if they were described with about half the number of words the Author used I would have found them hot, but the Author's overly wordy style might as well have thrown a bucket of ice-water on me.
There are some editing problems in this book, just as there were in Part 1. They were not common, but could be very confusing to the story when they cropped up. The Author used paragraphs in such a way, especially when one character was interrupting another, that it could be very confusing as to which character was speaking.
I'm giving The Blue Rose Court-Part 2 two and one half paddles. I was disappointed though I guess I shouldn't have been as really the problems with this story are just a continuation of those from Part 1. I had given Part 1 a higher rating, but to be honest these problems just wear on a reader over time, or at least they did me, until I was just happy that I was able to finally finish the story and move on to something else. Don't be looking for a review of Part 3 of the series anytime soon, if ever. I just couldn't face another of these books for a good long while.
